“Each one of them. We searched them all. It was like a hideous nightmare. In some were the remains of men, rows upon rows of them. In others we found the bones of monstrous beasts or demons that invaded the valley many years ago and killed the people by hundreds. It was to keep them out of the valley that the wall was built.” “Good! You know the place well. Now listen carefully.” Stanley then minutely described the cave where the dynamite had been hidden when they had first landed, several weeks before, and after they had discovered that the gold had been removed from the cave in which it had been hidden. “Bring those boxes to me,” Stanley concluded. “That is all for the present. No one will suspect anything. As master of ceremonies you have a perfect right to come and go as you please, and make any preparations you like.” It took a good deal of persuasion, but Soncco finally consented to make the trip to Uti for the boxes. He had reached the point where he would do almost anything rather than carry out his part of the fiendish plot set for two days hence. “I will do this one thing,” he said, “but no other; so spare yourselves the trouble of making any more requests.” “Now do you see daylight?” Stanley asked when the aged amauta had gone. “No!” Ted was bewildered. “I haven’t brains enough to go around.” “Well, then, do as I am doing. Trust to luck.” CHAPTER XIV SONCCO’S AID TO THE PLOTTERS Soncco, accompanied by two soldiers carrying the heavy boxes, returned as the first shafts of coming daylight penetrated the wreath of vapor that clung to the peaks standing like black monoliths between the Hidden Valley and the steaming forests of the Upper Amazon. The party looked tired and worn from the strenuous labor of the night. The men threw down their burdens none too gently and departed. Stanley noticed that one of the boxes had been opened, and the aged amauta, reading the trend of his thoughts, hastened to explain. “I could not bring the parcels without knowing what was in them,” he said; “they might have contained some contrivance dangerous to the Inca or to the people, or that would help you to escape. I am responsible for your safe-keeping. But I found only sticks of sweet, harmless earth. There can be nothing wrong in letting you have them, so I had them brought to you. I tasted one of them; how it did make my head ache!” “You are lucky to have your head on your shoulders,” thought Stanley, “handling and eating that dynamite as if it were candy.” Then aloud: “Thank you, Soncco, for bringing it. You shall be well rewarded for your trouble. Now you must continue to do as we say.”